Apparatus for starting gasoline engine powered air compressors



Jan. 8, 1963 B. DA VALLE I 3,071,978

APPARATUS FOR STARTING GASOLINE ENGINE POWERED AIR COMPRESSORS Filed March 5, 1960 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR. v BRUNO Dal44LLE A 7' TOPNEVS Jan. 8,1963 B. DA VALLE 3,071,978

APPARATUS FOR STARTING GASOLINE ENGINE POWERED AIR COMPRESSORS Filed March 3, 1960 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 7' BRUNO Dal ALLE I I /]NVENTOR.

A 7'7'ORN S United States Patent Ofifice 3,671,978 Patented Jan. 8, 1963 3 071,978 APPARATUS FOR STARTING GASOLINE ENGINE POWERED AIR COMPRESSORS Bruno Da Valle, Los Gatos, Calif. (85 Tully Road, San Jose, Calif.) Filed Mar. 3, 1960, Ser. No. 12,526 1 Claim. (Cl. 747) This invention relates to an apparatus for starting gasoline engine powered air compressors.

An object of this invention is to provide an improved mechanism for starting air compressors powered by gasoline or similar engines.

Another object of this invention is to provide an improved mechanism that is supported below the air compressor power plant for starting same substantially under load.

Still another object of this invention is to provide an improved starting mechanism for air compressors powered by gasoline or similar engines that may be readily installed on existing air compressor units in a manner that will provide eflicient and fool-proof starting of the unit.

Other and further objects of this invention will be apparent from the following specification, claims and drawings to those skilled in the art to which it relates.

In accordance with this invention there is provided an efiicient and reliable starting mechanism for use on air compressor units of the type provided with a plurality of radially disposed cylinders, some of which function as air compressor cylinders and others of which function as power cylinders of an internal combustion engine.

This unit is provided with a flywheel positioned near the base thereof and said flywheel is connected to the shaft of the engine-compressor unit. A tubular member extending downward through the base of the unit is provided with an annular flange that is attached to the flywheel and is concentric therewith. The lower end of this tubular member is provided with a ring gear that is supported thereon and which is of a size such that it extends to the starting pinion mounted on the shaft of the starting motor which is supported on one of the legs of the unit below the base thereof.

This mechanism is especially useful in starting gasoline engine powered air compressor units, commonly called spot compressors, in a time and labor-saving manner, especially under conditions where the apparatus is used intermittently. Manual starting of such a unit is sometimes quite dithcult especially in cold weather. if the unit is used repeatedly only for a short time and then turned off, considerable time can be wasted, particularly where a working crew is idle waiting for the compressor to deliver compressed air. Such difficulties are avoided by this invention.

Further details of this invention will be set forth in the following specification and drawing in which briefly:

FIG. 1 is a view of inside elevation partially in section of an embodiment of this invention;

FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken along the line 22 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken along the line 3-3 of FIG. 1; and

FIG. 4 is a detail view of the starting drive.

Referring to the drawing in detail, reference numeral designates a gasoline engine powered air compressor unit of conventional construction that is provided with a plurality of radially disposed cylinders shown in horizontal position. These cylinders are arranged at 60 degree intervals and they are alternately air compressor and power cylinders. This unit is provided with a plurality of legs 11 for supporting it on a metal plate 12 to which the bottoms of the legs are attached by means of suitable bolts. The gasoline powered air compressor unit is also provided with a vertically-extending shaft 13 on which the flywheel 14 is mounted as shown in FIG. 2. A plurality of fan blades 15 are attached to the circumference of the flywheel 14 so that cooling medium is circulated around the cylinders of the unit.

The bottom face of the flywheel 14 is machined flat and a fiat ring or annular member 17 is attached thereto by the bolts 18 which extend into threaded holes formed in the flywheel. A cylindrical member 19' is welded to the bottom surface of the flat ring 17 and the axis of this cylindrical member 19 is coaxial with that of the shaft 13. A plurality of spokes 20 is attached to the bottom end of the cylinder 19 by welding or the like and these spokes are spaced substantially equally around the outside of the cylindrical member 19 as shown in FIG. 3. The ring gear 21 is attached to the outer extremities of the spokes 24) also by welding or similar processes so the the teeth of this ring gear may mesh with the teeth of the pinion gear 23, which is supported on the shaft 24a of the motor 25, during starting and the pinion be automatically disengaged from the ring gear when the presser has been started.

The plate 12 of the compressor unit is supported on a plurality of legs 16 which are attached to bottom surfaces thereof. One of these legs 16 is provided with a pair of clamps 30 which are attached to the plate 28. Suitable bolts 31 are provided to these clamps 30 so that they may be clamped around one of the legs 16 and held tightly thereon. Straps 27 are provided around the motor 25 and these straps are welded to the base 26 which is held on the plate 28 by means of bolts such as the bolts 29. The ends of the straps 27 are held together by bolts 27.1 so that these straps snugly engage the body of the motor 25 to support it on one of the le 's 16 in position so that the pinion gear 23 thereof will mesh with the ring gear 21 during the starting of the gasoline engine powered air compressor.

The pinion gear 23 is provided with internal helical teeth that engage the helical grooves 23a of the sleeve 24 that is fixedly attached to the shaft 24a of the motor 25. A spring 32 having one end fixedly attached to the upper flange 33 of the sleeve 24 and having the lower end thereof fixedly attached to the pinion gear 23, is provided for the purpose of holding the pinion gear 23 in its upper position when the starting motor 25 is not being energized. When the motor 25 is energized from a source of electric current (not shown) then the pinion gear 23 is swung downward against the tension of the spring 32 and so that the teeth of this pinion gear mesh with the teeth of the ring gear 21. Thus, the motor 25 is connected to the ring gear 21 and rotates the shaft 13 of the engine-compressor unit 10, thereby starting the unit. When the unit is started and the engine section thereof functions to keep it running, the motor 25 is de-energized and the spring 32 pulls the pinion gear 23 upward out of mesh with the ring gear 21.

The flat ring, cylinder 19 and ring gear 21, are carefully assembled and attached to the flywheel 14 in such a way as not to disturb the dynamic balance of this flywheel so that damaging vibrations are not set up in the mechanism because of any unbalancing. Care must be taken in this respect, particularly in view of the fact that the ring gear 21 is supported at some distance from the flywheel and also because of the diameter of the cylinder 19, which is commensurate with that of the flywheel. These parts function as an auxiliary flywheel, and if properly balanced, will not introduce any vibration in the unit. On the contrary, they will improve the smooth running thereof. Also, the cylinder and ring gear assembly is made so that the operator has ready access to the end of the shaft 13, and the flywheel 14 may be removed from the end of this shaft whenever it is necessary to disassemble the apparatus for servicing.

While E have described a preferred embodiment of this invention in detail, it is not desired to limit this invention to the details set forth except insofar as they may be defined in the appended claims.

What I claim is as follows:

In an electric starter for gasoline engine powered air compressor having a plurality of radially disposed cylinders, selected ones of which are air compressor cylinders and the others of which are gasoline engine cylinders, said compressor being mounted on a base plate by means of a plurality of legs with its central axis extending vertically, said compressor being provided with a downwardly extending shaft on which a flywheel is mounted adjacent to the base plate, the improvement of which comprises an annular member, detachable means for mounting said annular member on the bottom surface of said flywheel, a cylindrical member attached to said annular member and extending down through a hole in the bottom of the compressor base plate, an external ring gear attached to the lower end of said cylindrical mem- References Zited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 15 Re. 17,679 Mylius May 27, 1930 1,208,962 Heinze Dec. 19, 1916 1,247,793 Churchward Nov. 27, 1917 1,254,811 Kettering Jan. 29, 1918 2,513,364 Robinson .a July 4, 1950 2:} 2,614,497 Cowles Oct. 21, 1952 2,847,985 Strang Aug. 19, 1958 

